Simon Chacha Magebo
MD, MPH
Dodoma,Tanzania
Summary
Dr. Simon Chacha is an Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer-national level and Public Health Emergency Management Expert with more than 18 years of progressive experience in public health leadership, emergency management, outbreak preparedness and response, health systems strengthening, and humanitarian coordination. He currently serves as Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer at the Ministry of Health. He possesses extensive expertise in emergency preparedness planning, Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC), Incident Management Systems (IMS), Emergency Medical Teams (EMT), outbreak investigation and response, rapid risk assessment, simulation exercise, and rapid response team trainings.
He possesses extensive expertise in emergency preparedness planning, Public Health Emergency Operations Centers (PHEOC), Incident Management Systems (IMS), Emergency Medical Teams (EMT), emergency risk assessment, simulation exercises, and rapid response team capacity building. He has played a key role in strengthening Tanzania’s preparedness and response capacity for high-threat infectious diseases including Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Marburg Virus Disease (MVD), Cholera, Measles, Rift Valley Fever, Dengue, and COVID-19.
Dr. Magebo has led national and regional readiness assessments, developed contingency and preparedness plans, coordinated emergency operations, facilitated simulation exercises, and provided technical leadership during public health emergencies. He has successfully collaborated with government institutions, WHO, CDC, USAID, United Nations agencies, humanitarian partners, and local stakeholders to strengthen emergency response systems and health security.
Having worked as a district and regional medical officer for many years has vast knowledge and experience on leadership and managerial skills. He has experience in working with both governments, no-government organizations both local and international including CDC, WHO, USAID and the private sector in health to strengthen emergency response systems and health security.
Overview
1
1
Certification
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer
Ministry of Health
07.2025 - Current
- Led development of Tanzania's Ebola Virus Disease preparedness and response guidelines, enhancing national readiness.
- Facilitated advanced Rapid Response Team training in nine high-risk regions.
- Coordinated national and sub-national Ebola and Marburg readiness assessments.
- Conducted simulation exercises and emergency preparedness drills, reinforcing regional response capacity.
- Deployed as rapid response team member across regions and councils, providing technical leadership in public health event responses.
- Contributed to development of national PHEOC guidelines, SOPs, and deployment frameworks.
- Conducted cross border Strategic Risk Assessment and developed PoE multisectoral contingency plan.
Public Health Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator
President’s office Regional Administration and Local Government
Dodoma
09.2023 - 06.2025
- Developed and monitored implementation of plans and procedures for effective emergency response.
- Created National and Regional contingency plans for cholera, dengue, and Rift Valley Fever 2023 to enhance regional preparedness.
- Provided technical guidance and assistance on responding to cholera outbreak different regions.
- Trained regional and council members on the Incident Management System to enhance response capabilities during the Marburg outbreak.
- Trained regional and council rapid response teams to enhance their emergency response skills.
- Development of training and simulation exercises programmes to test regional capacity to respond to public health emergencies.
- Maintained the RPHEOC facility and equipment to ensure operational readiness.
- Prepared situation reports to support decision-making by the Incident Manager.
- Prepare and update regional trained human resource database.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
President’s office Regional Administration and Local Government
Mwanza
04.2022 - 08.2022
- Led technical team in coordinating responses to cholera and measles outbreaks, ensuring effective public health interventions.
- Conducted cholera and measles tabletop simulation exercise to test regional capacity in responding to public health event.
- Developed 72-hour contingency plan for regional Marburg outbreak response, mobilising resources through multisectoral collaboration to enhance treatment Centre readiness.
- Created regional contingency plan based on readiness assessment results to strengthen response capabilities for Marburg.
- Provided mentorship and trainings (on-job) to health care workers on infection prevention and control and case management on viral hemorrhagic fever diseases like Ebola and Marburg.
- Developed health education messages to the community on Ebola and Marburg and participated in health promotion sessions using local radios and community gatherings.
Regional Medical Officer
Regional Medical Officer (RMO) at Kigoma Region
Kigoma
02.2020 - 03.2022
- Led the establishment of the Region Public Health Emergency Operation Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and stakeholders to strengthen the surveillance system for preventing emerging and re-emerging diseases and dealing with disasters.
- Managed region as Incident Manager, providing technical support and leadership in operations of Regional Public Health Emergency Operation Centre.
- Provided technical leadership and guidance on cross-border surveillance to prevent diseases like Ebola etc. by establishing a strong community led surveillance system in collaboration with port health officers, Region, and Council Security Committees.
- Mobilized resources in collaboration with international and local NGOs to support the region in scaling up health service delivery.
- Supported UN agencies working in refugee camps to develop Emergency Response Plan to respond to COVID 19 pandemic in camps and host communities.
- Provided technical leadership and guidance in the implementation of the COVID 19 accelerated vaccination plan and got recognition from the Ministry of Health as one of the regions with outstanding performance.
- Provided technical leadership and guidance in the provision of quality health services in refugee camps in collaboration with all agencies working within the camps.
- Secured a room at Maweni Regional Referral Hospital to establish a testing point for COVID 19 using a PCR machine in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
- Improved HIV services in collaboration with implementing partners and maintained the prevalence of 2.9%. The region was leading in continuous quality improvement among CDC-supported regions in February 2022.
- Reduced malaria prevalence through larviciding, indoor residual spraying, improving availability of malaria commodities, distribution of Insecticide-treated nets, and community education.
- Led and managed the capacity building for the Regional and Council Health Management Team to achieve their goals and desired results.
- Established referral system of samples from the council’s health facilities (both private and public) to the Region whereby the laboratory performs all tests accredited.
- Strengthened supportive supervision and quality control to scale up TB notification, elevating region to best performer in National TB intervention in 2021 from last position in 2019.
- Implemented Community based health services by using Community Health Workers supported by partners and made Kigoma be among the first region to implement the strategy.
- Supervised the construction of new buildings at Maweni Regional Referral Hospital, construction of five Council Hospitals, 18 Health centers, and 24 Dispensaries.
- Scaled up comprehensive Obstetric and Newborn services to all health centers within the Region.
- Led the implementation of the Impact Team Approach by training members of Regional and Council Health management (RCHM) which resulted in the availability of health commodities by 92% and reduce overstocking and expired drugs.
- Developed Regional Contingency plan to avert maternal and newborn death, achieving reductions in maternal and newborn mortality by 27% and 13% respectively in first year.
- Scaled up the uptake of Family planning services (CPR) from 42.2% in the year 2019 to 58.1% in the year 2021 in partnership with Implementing partners.
- Provided technical leadership and guidance in developing a regional road map towards universal hand hygiene in preventing wash-related, waterborne diseases and epidemics like cholera, COVID 19, etc.
- Provided technical leadership and guidance to maximize integration and synergies of the United Nations Kigoma Joint Programme strategies.
- Supervised the establishment of four one-stop centers within the Region to address gender-based violence and violence against children.
- Established 3 safe houses to support victims of human trafficking and GBV/VAC.
- Supervised the Establishment of the mini blood bank at Kasulu and the Regional Blood bank construction at Maweni Regional Referral Hospital to reduce the shortage of blood in Hospitals and Health Centers.
- Tanzania
City Medical Officer of Health
City Medical Officer of Health
Arusha
04.2017 - 01.2020
- Led the implementation of Health Basket Fund Selected Indicators and Arusha City became the best performer council in Health Services delivery in the year 2018 which led to promotion to higher level (Reginal Medical Officer).
- Provided technical leadership in planning for public health emergencies preparedness and response.
- Led implementation of health facility planning and direct health facility financing to optimise resource allocation and service delivery.
- Established exemplary health center to be a role model for revenue collection and health service delivery (Kaloleni Health Centre in Arusha City).
- Strengthened partnerships with public and private health facilities, enhancing collaborative efforts in line with Public-Private Partnership Policy.
- Provided technical leadership to introduce ASRH services to six health facilities with support from DSW, PCT and Engender Heath.
- Supervised PEPFAR-funded projects at the council level and prepared and submitted quality reports on time.
- Assisted Council Director on health services matters, ensuring alignment with council objectives.
- Arusha, Tanzania
Municipal Medical Officer of Health
Municipal Medical Officer of Health
05.2015 - 03.2017
- Oversaw public and private health services, ensuring adherence to established quality standards.
- Established and trained emergency team readily available to respond to public health emergencies.
- Led the implementation of WASH program in the city which made it free of cholera outbreak for the period I was in charge of health services.
- Led the implementation of WASH campaign which made the council be among the few councils without cholera outbreak.
- Supervised HIV, TB, and malaria PEPFAR-funded projects at council level, delivering timely and quality reports.
- Conducted measles and rubella campaign for controlling measles outbreak.
- Managed availability of medical supplies, equipment, and drugs in all health facilities through Integrated Logistics System (ILS).
- Ruvuma region, Tanzania
District Medical Officer
District Medical Officer
Namtumbo
09.2011 - 04.2015
- Led the implementation of measles rubella campaign resulted in containing measles outbreak in the council.
- Led the implementation of WASH campaign which made the council to be among the few councils without cholera outbreak.
- Scaled up vaccination coverage within the council by providing health facility with necessary supplies and through mentorship and coaching.
- Oversaw public and private health services, ensuring compliance with established quality standards.
- Ensured that medical supplies, medical equipment, medicine, and drugs were available in all health facilities from the medical store department throughout the period using the Integrated Logistic System (ILS) which led to the availability for health commodities to be above 90%.
- Conducted active and passive disease surveillance in the community and in health facilities.
- Supervised construction and rehabilitation of health facilities infrastructure under Joint Rehabilitation Fund (JRF) and MMAM project, enhancing service delivery capacity.
- Namtumbo district, Tanzania
Education
Master of Public Health (MPH) -
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)
United Republic of Tanzania01-2014
Doctor of Medicine Course (MD) -
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)
United Republic of Tanzania01-2008
Skills
- Emergency preparedness
- Disaster response coordination
- Incident management
- Risk assessment
- Simulation exercises
- Public health policy
- Resource mobilization
- Strategic planning
- Policy enforcement
- Training facilitation
- Team leadership
Certification
2026-06-28, I certify that the information given above describes me, my qualifications.
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
swipe to browse
Timeline
Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer
Ministry of Health
07.2025 - Current
Public Health Emergency Operation Centre Coordinator
President’s office Regional Administration and Local Government
09.2023 - 06.2025
Emergency Preparedness and Response
President’s office Regional Administration and Local Government
04.2022 - 08.2022
Regional Medical Officer
Regional Medical Officer (RMO) at Kigoma Region
02.2020 - 03.2022
City Medical Officer of Health
City Medical Officer of Health
04.2017 - 01.2020
Municipal Medical Officer of Health
Municipal Medical Officer of Health
05.2015 - 03.2017
District Medical Officer
District Medical Officer
09.2011 - 04.2015
Master of Public Health (MPH) -
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)
Doctor of Medicine Course (MD) -
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)